NEWS
Trujillo lands 1,000th career win at Gulfstream
Posted: Sunday, April 12, 2009 5:46 PM
Elvis Trujillo guided Bahia Girl to a three-quarter-length victory in the first race at Gulfstream Park on Sunday to record his 1,000th career win.
Trujillo, 26, reserved Bahia Girl in fourth in the 1 1/8-mile optional claiming race. She rallied three wide into the stretch and closed gamely to seize command in the final sixteenth and secure the milestone win.
"I'm very happy, this is a special moment in my career," Trujillo said. "To come to this country so young with so many dreams and see them come true is very satisfying.
"The trip was beautiful. We got good positioning and got the result we wanted."
A Panama City, Panama, native, Trujillo won three races on Saturday to put himself in position to reach the 1,000-win mark.
Trujillo has amassed $27,131,420 in purse earnings since he began riding professionally in North America in 2001. He graduated from the Laffit Pincay Jr. Jockey School in 2000.
Trujillo guided Maryfield to a win in the 2007 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint aboard his first mount in the Breeders’ Cup World Championships.
"Winning a Breeders' Cup [race] put me on another level and opened doors," said Trujillo, who was the leading rider at Calder Race Course in 2007. "I came to this country with a lot of expectations, but winning a race of such magnitude is definitely something I will remember for the rest of my career.”
